弘明集 8.83

8.83

釋曰。噫唉。何子之難喻耶。左傳云。言者身之文。莊周云。言不廣不足以明道。余欲無言其可得乎。夫出家之士皆靈根宿固德宇淵深。湛乎斯照。確乎不拔者也。是以其神凝其心道。超然遐想宇宙不能點。其胸懷澹爾無寄塵垢。何能攪其方寸。割慈親之重恩。棄房櫳之歡愛。虛室生白守玄行禪。或投陀林野委身餧獸。或靜節蔬餐精心無怠。將勤求十力超登無上解脫。天羅銷散地網。兆百福於未萌。濟蒼生於萬劫。斯實大丈夫之宏圖。非吾子所得開關也。避役之談是何言歟。孔子願喙三尺者。雖言出於口。終不以長舌犯人。則子之喙三丈矣。何多口之為異傷人之深哉。

The response says: Alas! How difficult it is to instruct you, sir! The Zuozhuan states: "Words are the ornament of the person." Zhuang Zhou said: "If words are not broad, they are insufficient to illumine the Dao." If I wish to remain silent, how could that be possible? Those who leave household life are all endowed with spiritual roots deeply planted from the past and an abode of virtue profound and vast. Limpid, they shine forth; steadfast, they are unshakeable. Therefore, their spirits are concentrated and their minds aligned with the Dao; in their transcendent musings the cosmos cannot taint them, and their hearts are tranquil and unbound by dust and defilement. How could worldly matters agitate their minds? They sever the heavy favor of loving parents and abandon the pleasurable affection of inner chambers; in the empty chamber white light arises as they guard the Mystery and practice dhyāna. Some practice dhūta in forests and wilds, offering their bodies to feed beasts; some maintain quiet moderation with vegetarian meals, their refined minds free from indolence. They diligently seek the ten powers to ascend to unsurpassed liberation. Melting away the net of heaven and scattering the snares of earth, they initiate a hundred blessings before they sprout and deliver the multitude of beings across ten thousand kalpas. This is truly the magnificent undertaking of a great man; it is not something into which you, sir, may gain entry. What sort of talk is this claim of "dodging conscript labor"? Confucius wished for a beak of three feet; though words issued from his mouth, he never harmed others with a long tongue. Yet your beak, sir, is thirty feet long! Why must your loquaciousness be so monstrous as to wound people so deeply?